Types, topics and trends: A ten-year review of research journals in science education

Abstract

All reviews are selective and this one restricts itself to content analysis of articles published between the beginning of 2005 and the end of 2014 in the premier, generalist, Science-education, research journals: International Journal of Science Education; Journal of Research in Science Teaching; Research in Science Education; Science Education, and Studies in Science Education. The analysis relies on coding of over 2000 abstracts in terms of research method, educational level, disciplinary context and research topic. Articles were tallied within each category for each journal to produce ranks indicating the relative output for that category. Presentation of results in two five-year spans (2005–2009 and 2010–2014) allows comment on variations in output across the ten years reviewed. Such broad reviews provide a useful spur to expert reflection while also mapping the field for novices attempting to enter it. A discussion of the themes of this Special Issue: Interactive Simulations and Innovative Pedagogy for Conceptual Understanding in Science Education provides one example of such use. The paper closes with a comparison with existing reviews and suggestions for further work. This research literature has claims to wider relevance because of its location on the boundary between Science and the Humanities.